high school football career was stellar enough that the academy retired his sports jersey after his grid ##iro ##n days were over . miami military academy named him athlete of the year in 1970 . richmond ' s other interests included flying , and he earned his private pilot license at age 16 . following high school graduation , richmond attended ashland university for about one year before dropping out . = = racing career = = a friend of richmond ' s father co @ - @ owned a sprint car and richmond joined the team as a crew member for dave shoe ##maker . in 1976 , 21 @ - @ year @ - @ old richmond took the car onto lake ##ville speedway at lake
high school football career was stellar enough that the academy retired his sports jersey after his gridiron days were over. miami military academy named him athlete of the year in 1970. richmond's other interests included flying, and he earned his private pilot license at age 16. following high school graduation, richmond attended ashland university for about one year before dropping out. = = racing career = = a friend of richmond's father co @ - @ owned a sprint car and richmond joined the team as a crew member for dave shoemaker. in 1976, 21 @ - @ year @ - @ old richmond took the car onto lakeville speedway at lake